His E-Mail Order Wife Page 14

  She turned with startled eyes and dropped her hands from her hair. “You scared me.”

  “Sorry, but I heard this woman singing and I couldn’t help but come in and check it out.” He let his gaze wander over her wet body and lingered in all the places he’d come to appreciate.

  She didn’t bother to cover herself and instead leaned back against the wall with a sultry smile. “Does that make me some sort of Pied Piper?”

  He spanned the space between them and braced his palms on both sides of her head. “Guess it does at that.” Reaching up, he wiped a mound of snowy suds away from her brow. “Need some help washing?”

  “I’m all done,” she said in a breathy tone.

  “Well, I’m not.”

  He buried his face in her neck and worked his way down her warm shower-damp flesh until he came to her breasts. He closed his mouth over a nipple and she grabbed hold of his shoulders as if to anchor herself. Lowering to his knees, he clasped her hips with his palms to hold her steady, his tongue now searching more intimate contours, tasting and teasing while she trembled.

  She showed her appreciation with small sounds of pleasure, driving him insane with the pure carnality of her raspy voice as she called his name. With another slow foray of his tongue, she shuddered beneath his mouth.

  Kristina clawed at his hair when he didn’t halt his exploration, and begged him to stop. She wanted him now.

  When he realized he didn’t have what he needed in the shower to see this through, he stood. “I’ll be right back.”

  “Drew,” she pleaded once again.

  “I need a condom,” he said. Realizing they’d used up the nightstand cache the evening before, he slipped a towel around his hips, hoping to avoid leaving a wet path in the hall on his way to the living room where he’d left a box hidden in a nylon bag. He’d brought them on the off chance that he might actually need them, out of wishful thinking, and was he ever glad his wish had come true.

  Drew yanked open the bedroom door and pulled up short, the towel fisted in a death grip, expecting his mouth to hit the floor at any moment. Better his bottom lip than the towel.

  Lilly leaned on her cane and inclined her head. “So sorry to interrupt your shower, dear.”

  Not as sorry as he was. “What are you doing here?”

  She nodded toward the stairwell. “Amanda wanted to see Kristina. She’s downstairs having cereal with Grandpa Toby.”

  “You could’ve knocked. Or called.”

  “For your information, I did knock, with my cane. Several times. I tried to call, but the line was busy. I assumed you and Kristina would still be sleeping.”

  “We were asleep until Brett called. Elena had her baby.”

  Lilly smiled. “I know. I spoke with him right before we left. Wonderful news indeed. There’s nothing quite like having a new baby in the family, is there? Of course, creating that new life is wonderful as well. Speaking of that…” She leaned around him to peer through the open door. “Where is Kristina?”

  He yanked the door closed behind him, yet had no desire to beat around the bush, or to spare his grandmother’s delicate sensibilities, not that she had any. “She’s in the shower.”

  Lilly’s knowing smile bordered on devilish. “How nice that you decided to conserve water.” She turned away and said, “I’ll keep Miss Amanda company until you are properly bathed and attired.” She paused and glanced over one shoulder. “Will an hour be enough time?”

  Considering his recent condition, five minutes might suffice. Or it would have had she not shown up. Nothing like encountering your grandmother to quell carnal urges. “We’ll be down in a few minutes.”

  She pivoted around with more agility than most people half her age. “Oh, don’t rush on my account. We’ll keep your daughter occupied. In fact, I suggest that while you’re finishing up, you might start planning your nuptials. I believe you’ve already taken care of the honeymoon.”

  She hobbled down the stairs before Drew could arrive at a proper comeback. He hoped that Lilly didn’t come back until he’d finished his shower, unfortunately without Kristina.

  Ten

  Drew arrived at the hospital that evening without Kristina who’d insisted on staying at home with his overly tired and irritable daughter. She’d assured Drew that other opportunities would arise to meet Brett and Elena when Mandy was more rested.

  A good idea for many reasons, Drew decided. He wanted a few moments to talk to Brett and seek his brother’s advice on how to handle telling Kristina the truth.

  At the room, Drew rapped on the door, and Brett greeted him with a tiny pink bundle curled in the crook of his arm. “What have you got there?” Drew asked, lowering his voice when he noticed Elena sleeping in the nearby bed.

  Brett opened the blanket, revealing a tiny dark-haired baby with her hands fisted beneath her chin. The good memories came back to Drew, memories of Mandy as a baby, although it seemed ages ago when she was so small, so dependent on him for everything. Each passing day brought with it Mandy’s quest for independence, a hard thing to deal with, but inevitable.

  “Isn’t she the best-looking baby you’ve ever seen?” Brett whispered.

  Drew sent him an answering smile, thinking that all new fathers believed they alone set the standard for quality kids. He’d felt the same about his own daughter. He still did. “One fine-looking little lady.”

  Brett carefully laid the baby in the portable crib near the hospital bed then gestured toward the hall.

  Drew joined his brother outside the door and offered his hand. “You’ve got a keeper, bro.”

  Brett grinned. “Yeah, that she is. Hope you don’t mind that I didn’t wake Elena, but she’s just now gone to sleep.”

  “No problem. Labor’s tough on a woman.”

  “Not too easy on the man, either. There were times I felt pretty helpless.”

  “I know what you mean.”

  Brett’s smiled faded. “Guess you do at that. So where’s your new lady?”

  “Home with Mandy who was a bear on the drive back in from the lake. Kristina told me to give you her best and she looks forward to meeting you after you’re home with the new family.”

  “I’m looking forward to it, too.” Brett eyed him curiously. “I guess congratulations are in order now that you’ve decided to tie the knot again.”

  “That’s what I wanted to talk with you about.” Drew studied the tile floor, gathering his thoughts.

  “Trouble in paradise already?”

  Drew’s gaze shot to his brother, although he wasn’t surprised that Brett sensed his discomfort. That innate bond had existed between them since childhood. “Actually, it’s better than I expected. Better than I’d ever hoped for.”

  “Then what’s the problem?”

  “Lilly.”

  Brett frowned. “What does Grandmother have to do with this? Are you saying she doesn’t approve of your woman?”

  Drew barked a laugh. “Oh, she approves, all right. As a matter of fact, she’s responsible for this whole engagement.”

  “You mean Grandmother fixed you up?”

  “Yeah, so to speak. She found Kristina on an Internet singles’ site while I was in Europe. We were the perfect match, she said.”

  “And you don’t agree?”

  “Yeah, I do. But there’s a big problem.”

  At Brett’s totally confused expression, Drew went on, “Grandmother sent all the e-mails, pretending to be me. She even had Mandy in on the act. Odd thing is, I had no intention of keeping this charade going. At first I didn’t want to hurt Kristina’s feelings, so I decided to try and discourage her. But now—”

  “You’ve fallen in love with her?”

  “I think maybe I have.” Drew surprised himself with the ease of the admission, but he couldn’t deny the fact any longer. He did love Kristina, everything about her. That realization had hit him the night before, when they’d made love. But admittedly, it had scared the hell out of him, so he hadn’t both
ered to tell her. But he needed to tell her, and soon.

  Brett rubbed his shadowed jaw and sighed. “Kristina has no idea what transpired up to your meeting?”

  “No, and I don’t know how to tell her. This is going to blow away all her faith in me.”

  Brett patted Drew’s back. “Not if you handle it well. When it comes right down to it, I don’t think it matters how this all began. Mine and Elena’s relationship is a prime example. Madison may not be my biological child, but I started to think of her as mine before she was born.”

  Drew admired Brett’s willingness to accept responsibility for a child that was the result of Elena’s insemination before they’d met. And Brett was right. It shouldn’t matter how he and Kristina had met. They were together now, and that mattered more than anything.

  “Have you told her how you feel?” Brett asked.

  “Not yet. I’m not very good at that kind of thing.”

  “Then that’s where you begin. There’s a lot of power in the words I love you. Once you get past that point, the rest will work itself out.”

  If only Drew could feel as confident as his brother sounded. “You really think so?”

  “You bet I do. And if worse comes to worst, you can always grovel.”

  Drew and Brett shared a laugh, soon interrupted by a shrill baby cry coming from the room.

  Brett nodded toward the closed door. “That’s my cue.”

  “Go ahead,” Drew said. “We’ll have a longer visit when you all get home.”

  Brett paused with his hand braced on the knob. “Be sure to bring Kristina. I want to meet the woman who finally pulled you from the depths of despair.”

  “I hope you have the opportunity.”

  Smiling, Brett said, “Just use the old Connelly charm. And good luck.”

  Drew believed he’d need more than charm and luck for his current mission. He might not have originally intended to have Kristina Simmons in his life, but now he refused to let her get away.

  “Do you love my daddy, Kristina?”

  Kristina couldn’t find it in herself to be less than honest with Amanda. Besides, children were naturally intuitive about emotions. If she denied her love for Drew, Mandy would most certainly see through her. “Yes, honey, I do.”

  Mandy sent her a sweet smile. “I knew you would.”

  Kristina smoothed Mandy’s white-blond hair, spilling over the pillow like a halo. Fitting analogy, considering the child looked as though she should be sporting celestial wings. “I love you, too, sweetie.”

  “I love you, Kristina. And my daddy loves you, too,” Mandy said with certainty.

  Oh, how Kristina wanted to believe that, yet Drew hadn’t revealed his feelings. Not even after she’d revealed hers. “I hope so.”

  “I told Nana Lilly that you would love each other.”

  “You told your great-grandmother?”

  She nodded. “Uh-huh. She wasn’t sure Daddy would like the surprise, but he did.”

  Confused, Kristina frowned. “What surprise?”

  “You, silly Kristina. We got you as a surprise for Daddy.”

  Mandy’s eyes widened and she clamped a hand over her mouth. “I forgot. I wasn’t supposed to tell you. But it’s okay now since you and Daddy love each other.”

  Alarms sounded in Kristina’s head. “I don’t understand how it was a surprise since Daddy and I e-mailed each other.”

  “Nana Lilly sent the e-mails, and me. She said that she knew what Daddy would say, and that he needed a push ’cause he couldn’t find a nice lady. But you’re nice, that’s why we picked you.”

  Kristina’s chest constricted with the heavy weight of betrayal. “You mean your daddy didn’t send the e-mails?”

  Mandy looked pleased and proud. “Me and Nana Lilly did. Wasn’t that a good surprise?”

  She fought the bite of anger, of bitter tears. “I guess so, sweetie. When did your daddy find out about me?”

  Mandy sighed. “You know. The night he came home from the other country when I told him.”

  Kristina knew nothing about any of this, and worse, she obviously didn’t know Drew at all. “Then he wasn’t expecting me that next morning?”

  “I can’t remember.” Mandy yawned and rubbed her eyes. “Can I go to sleep now?”

  Kristina whisked a kiss over Mandy’s forehead, needing to get away before the tears made an appearance despite her efforts to hold them back. “Sure, honey. Sweet dreams.”

  Mandy drew Kristina into a tight hug. “See you in the morning.”

  Without a reply, Kristina left the room on wooden legs. She couldn’t promise Mandy she would be here in the morning. She could no longer promise her anything.

  Things were beginning to make perfect sense to Kristina, now, of all times, when it appeared to be too late. Drew’s list of demands, his sensual overtures, all appeared to be some ploy to rid himself of her. If she’d only opened her eyes, resisted his charms, then she would have seen exactly what he’d been trying to do. How could she have been such a fool?

  She couldn’t understand what had motivated him to continue the pretense. Fear? Or pity?

  How can you keep a man unless you lose some weight?

  Was her mother right? Did Drew feel sorry for her? If that were the case, Kristina would have plenty to say about it. She might not be every man’s ideal, but she wasn’t desperate. Drew Connelly was not, and never had been, a last-ditch attempt to find a suitable partner. Unfortunately, he was the man she loved with all her heart.

  “I can’t believe you didn’t have the decency to tell me.”

  Drew had barely stepped into the den before he was met with Kristina’s stern words and stony expression.

  “Tell you what?” he asked, although he already knew the answer.

  Kristina strolled around the room, still wearing the plain cotton shirt and shorts from that day, her arms folded tightly over her chest. “Oh, just a little matter about some e-mails. You know the ones.” She paused in front of the sofa and nailed him with an icy stare. “The ones your grandmother wrote to me.”

  Drew felt as if he were heading toward a brick wall in a speeding car with no brakes. “How did you find out?”

  “Your daughter told me. You should have.”

  He had no argument for that. “You’re right. I should have told you in the beginning.”

  “And why didn’t you?”

  “I tried. I meant to that morning you showed up at the door, but you looked so unsure—”

  “And you felt sorry for me.” She released a cynical laugh. “Poor Kristina who couldn’t get a man so she resorted to a cyber deal. I might as well have sucker stamped on my forehead.”

  Drew had expected her anger, maybe even expected tears. But he saw no tears, only fury flashing from her dark eyes. “That’s not what I thought. I was concerned about hurting your feelings, but then after I got to know you, I realized that it hadn’t been such a bad idea after all.”

  “Stop it, Drew. Stop the lies. You pitied me, so you played along thinking you’d find some way to discourage me. You’re still playing along. But I have to admit, the list was very creative.”

  Drew inwardly flinched at her acid tone even though he couldn’t fault her for hating him now. “Yeah, that’s what I’d originally planned. But things started to change after a while. I started to change.”

  “Into what? A trustworthy man? I don’t think so.”

  “If you’ll just let me explain—”

  “It’s a bit late for that, wouldn’t you say?”

  Drew couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so damned helpless. “Look, I wasn’t sure if I would be the right man for you. I didn’t think I could give you what you need beyond—”

  “Sex?” She gave him a hard look. “Which brings me to another question. Last night, was that more of your charity?”

  At that moment, he hated that he hadn’t found the courage to tell her how he felt about her when she might have listened. Right now she was
too hurt to hear what he was saying. “God, no, Kristina. I wouldn’t have made love to you out of pity.”

  “We had sex, Drew. Lovemaking comes when love is involved.”

  “But, Kristina, I do care about you. I—”

  “You don’t know the first thing about caring.” She propped a hand on her hip and glared at him. “If you really cared about me, you would have told me sooner, before I…” Her words trailed off and she pinched the bridge of her nose, Drew assumed to stop the tears she seemed so determined to avoid.

  Feeling helpless, he strode to her and braced his palms on her shoulders, bent on having his say. She stiffened and fisted her hands at her sides. “Don’t…touch…me.”

  She might as well have delivered a right hook to his jaw. He released her and stepped back. “Look, Kristina, you’re tired. We can talk about this in the morning.”

  Her bottom lip trembled, the first sign that her emotions were about to get the upper hand. But she tipped her chin up and said, “I’m all through talking to you. I’ll leave first thing in the morning.”

  Blind panic pushed the air from his lungs. He was losing her, had already lost her. “You can’t just leave like that. Mandy will be devastated.” And so would he, but he couldn’t make the words form. She wouldn’t want to hear it anyway, at least not now. Maybe after she had time to think, she would be more open to hearing him out.

  He sighed. “We need you, Kristina.”

  Her expression softened some. “I can’t be an afterthought, Drew. And I have considered how this will affect Amanda. She shouldn’t have to suffer because of our mistakes. That’s why I would like to continue to give her piano lessons.”

  At least it was a start. At least then he might be able to convince her how important she was to him, and not because she loved his daughter. Because she loved him, or at least she had before he screwed everything up by not being honest. “I think giving her lessons is a great idea.”

  “On one condition.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I’ll teach her during the day, while you’re at work. I don’t want to see you.”

  He had totally destroyed her with his carelessness. Totally destroyed any hope of a future with her. He felt defeated, wasted. “If that’s what you want.”